Alvah R. Cass, MD, SM

Professor and Vice Chair

Dr. Cass joined UTMB’s Department of Family Medicine in 1992. He is a Professor, Family Medicine and holds the Sam and Elizabeth Nixon Chair in Family Medicine. Dr. Cass currently serves as Vice Chair of the Department of Family Medicine. He has previously served as the medical director of the Family Medicine Clinic – Island East, located in the Primary Care Pavilion, and the UTMB Employee Health Clinic. He has also served as Chief-of-Staff of John Sealy Hospital and Inpatient Medical Director of the Jennie Sealy Hospital from 2014-2020.

Dr. Cass earned a Bachelor of Science and a Doctor of Medicine from the University of Pittsburgh. He then completed his family practice training at Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania. Dr. Cass completed additional training as an affiliate fellow with the Brigham and Women's Hospital/Harvard Medical School of Public Health Program in Clinical Effectiveness and earned a Master of Science in Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

Dr. Cass is certified by the American Board of Family Medicine. He is also certified as a medical examiner for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Dr. Cass is a member of the departmental research program and his clinical interests include diabetes mellitus, osteoporosis and family practice obstetrics. He has conducted funded research on diabetes mellitus and osteoporosis, and published numerous articles and book chapters. Dr. Cass was recognized in Best Doctors, Inc.'s Best Doctors in America in 2009-2010, and has won numerous teaching awards.